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Installing and finishing unfinished hardwood MarkAllen1 10-30-2009
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Posted by MarkAllen1 on October 30, 2009, 8:54 pm


I am about to install unfinished hardwood flooring in an apartment that I
will be renting out. I went around and around trying to decide whether to
go with prefinished or unfinished hardwood etc. In the end, I think I
probably made the wrong choice. But, I already bought the unfinished
hardwood, and now I need to just go forward with it and hope for the best.

It's a 440 square foot area that will be getting the new hardwood. I bought
about 480 square feet of #2 red oak 3/4-inch unfinished hardwood to allow
for waste. The room is over top of another apartment, so I don't need a
vapor barrier. The new unfinished hardwood is actually going on top of an
old hardwood floor that I decided not to try to have refinished. The whole
apartment was redone, including all new doors and new kitchen and bath
ceramic tile floors (which raised them up), so adding the new hardwood floor
on top of the old one won't be a problem in terms of the added height to the
floor. The plan is to put down red rosin paper and then nail down the new
unfinished hardwood. The new hardwood will be going down so it will be at a
90 degree angle to (meaning "across") the old hardwood flooring. I have a
handyman-type person who will be doing the actual work, and he said he has
done hardwood flooring before. But, I am the one who will be deciding how
it will be done. He'll be renting the special nailing gun, etc.

I have to decide how it will be finished. Due to the apartment renovation,
the old hardwood floor had a number of sections that needed to be filled in.
I had the guy first install the same type of #2 red oak 3/4-inch unfinished
hardwood to do the fill-ins, thinking that I would probably then just
refinish the old floor. We even rented a sander and started sanding the old
and some of the newly-patched flooring. But, I later decided not to
continue with that and I am going to install the new floor on top of the old
one instead. Nevertheless, I now have some small sections of nailed down #2
red oak 3/4-inch unfinished hardwood on which I can test out different
finishes since it will be covered up by the new floor.

I've tested a couple of colors of polyurethane with stain in it, and I don't
like how it comes out -- they are all too dark. Plus, I am thinking that if
I can just use clear polyurethane without any stain coloring in it, if the
floor later gets scratched and damaged, it would be easier to just sand the
scratches and re-coat without having to match any stain color later on.

Here's the part that seems strange to me. When I test the clear
polyurethane on the unfinished hardwood patched areas that were just put
down, and that not sanded, it looks pretty good. The wood grain shows up
well and the color is pretty much what I want. But, when I put the clear
poly on the new unfinished hardwood patched areas that were already sanded,
it comes out looking bad (to me) -- it's much darker and the wood grain
doesn't show up well. I have a feeling that the sanding makes the hardwood
just absorb the poly more evenly, and not more in one part of the grain and
less in other parts, so it doesn't look very good.

My dilemma is that once the new floor goes down, I assume that I need to
sand it first to make it even before applying the clear poly. But, I think
that will make the coloration look worse than it would if I just applied the
clear poly first without sanding it.

Also, I've been reading some stuff online that says that the new hardwood
should be sealed on all sides. I've never heard of that before and never
saw anyone do it. Is that something that people actually do? -- seal the
new unfinished hardwood on all sides before putting it down? I doubt it,
but I have to ask.

Overall, any tips, suggestions, etc. anyone has before I start the
installation would be appreciated.

Thanks.


Posted by ransley on October 31, 2009, 7:15 am


> I am about to install unfinished hardwood flooring in an apartment that I
> will be renting out. =A0I went around and around trying to decide whether=
to
> go with prefinished or unfinished hardwood etc. =A0In the end, I think I
> probably made the wrong choice. =A0But, I already bought the unfinished
> hardwood, and now I need to just go forward with it and hope for the best=
.
> It's a 440 square foot area that will be getting the new hardwood. =A0I b=
ought
> about 480 square feet of #2 red oak 3/4-inch unfinished hardwood to allow
> for waste. =A0The room is over top of another apartment, so I don't need =
a
> vapor barrier. =A0The new unfinished hardwood is actually going on top of=
an
> old hardwood floor that I decided not to try to have refinished. =A0The w=
hole
> apartment was redone, including all new doors and new kitchen and bath
> ceramic tile floors (which raised them up), so adding the new hardwood fl=
oor
> on top of the old one won't be a problem in terms of the added height to =
the
> floor. =A0The plan is to put down red rosin paper and then nail down the =
new
> unfinished hardwood. =A0The new hardwood will be going down so it will be=
at a
> 90 degree angle to (meaning "across") the old hardwood flooring. =A0I hav=
e a
> handyman-type person who will be doing the actual work, and he said he ha=
s
> done hardwood flooring before. =A0But, I am the one who will be deciding =
how
> it will be done. =A0He'll be renting the special nailing gun, etc.
> I have to decide how it will be finished. =A0Due to the apartment renovat=
ion,
> the old hardwood floor had a number of sections that needed to be filled =
in.
> I had the guy first install the same type of #2 red oak 3/4-inch unfinish=
ed
> hardwood to do the fill-ins, thinking that I would probably then just
> refinish the old floor. =A0We even rented a sander and started sanding th=
e old
> and some of the newly-patched flooring. =A0But, I later decided not to
> continue with that and I am going to install the new floor on top of the =
old
> one instead. =A0Nevertheless, I now have some small sections of nailed do=
wn #2
> red oak 3/4-inch unfinished hardwood on which I can test out different
> finishes since it will be covered up by the new floor.
> I've tested a couple of colors of polyurethane with stain in it, and I do=
n't
> like how it comes out -- they are all too dark. =A0Plus, I am thinking th=
at if
> I can just use clear polyurethane without any stain coloring in it, if th=
e
> floor later gets scratched and damaged, it would be easier to just sand t=
he
> scratches and re-coat without having to match any stain color later on.
> Here's the part that seems strange to me. =A0When I test the clear
> polyurethane on the unfinished hardwood patched areas that were just put
> down, and that not sanded, it looks pretty good. =A0The wood grain shows =
up
> well and the color is pretty much what I want. =A0But, when I put the cle=
ar
> poly on the new unfinished hardwood patched areas that were already sande=
d,
> it comes out looking bad (to me) -- it's much darker and the wood grain
> doesn't show up well. =A0I have a feeling that the sanding makes the hard=
wood
> just absorb the poly more evenly, and not more in one part of the grain a=
nd
> less in other parts, so it doesn't look very good.
> My dilemma is that once the new floor goes down, I assume that I need to
> sand it first to make it even before applying the clear poly. =A0But, I t=
hink
> that will make the coloration look worse than it would if I just applied =
the
> clear poly first without sanding it.
> Also, I've been reading some stuff online that says that the new hardwood
> should be sealed on all sides. =A0I've never heard of that before and nev=
er
> saw anyone do it. =A0Is that something that people actually do? -- seal t=
he
> new unfinished hardwood on all sides before putting it down? =A0I doubt i=
t,
> but I have to ask.
> Overall, any tips, suggestions, etc. anyone has before I start the
> installation would be appreciated.
> Thanks.

You just bought it. it has to dry to the humidity of the inside. It
looks darker on sanded areas, did you cross grain sand it.

Posted by MarkAllen1 on October 31, 2009, 7:45 am



> I am about to install unfinished hardwood flooring in an apartment that I
> will be renting out. I went around and around trying to decide whether to
> go with prefinished or unfinished hardwood etc. In the end, I think I
> probably made the wrong choice. But, I already bought the unfinished
> hardwood, and now I need to just go forward with it and hope for the best.
> .........
> Overall, any tips, suggestions, etc. anyone has before I start the
> installation would be appreciated.

You just bought it. it has to dry to the humidity of the inside. It
looks darker on sanded areas, did you cross grain sand it.

------------

I did buy it a week ago and I placed the bundles in the rooms where it will
be going. I didn't sand across the grain.

If the way it works is that it will look darker on sanded areas (that's how
it looks to me too, so far), I am thinking that maybe I'll try putting it
down, and then applying at least a first coat of clear poly before doing any
sanding. I'm thinking that maybe that will seal in the natural wood grain
look that I am trying to maintain.



Posted by HeyBub on October 31, 2009, 3:45 pm


MarkAllen1 wrote:
> Also, I've been reading some stuff online that says that the new
> hardwood should be sealed on all sides. I've never heard of that
> before and never saw anyone do it. Is that something that people
> actually do? -- seal the new unfinished hardwood on all sides before
> putting it down? I doubt it, but I have to ask.
> Overall, any tips, suggestions, etc. anyone has before I start the
> installation would be appreciated.

Maybe a coat of sealer before the finish?



Posted by teabird on October 31, 2009, 4:44 pm


> I am about to install unfinished hardwood flooring in an apartment that I
> will be renting out. =A0I went around and around trying to decide whether=
to
> go with prefinished or unfinished hardwood etc. =A0In the end, I think I
> probably made the wrong choice. =A0But, I already bought the unfinished
> hardwood, and now I need to just go forward with it and hope for the best=
.
> It's a 440 square foot area that will be getting the new hardwood. =A0I b=
ought
> about 480 square feet of #2 red oak 3/4-inch unfinished hardwood to allow
> for waste. =A0The room is over top of another apartment, so I don't need =
a
> vapor barrier. =A0The new unfinished hardwood is actually going on top of=
an
> old hardwood floor that I decided not to try to have refinished. =A0The w=
hole
> apartment was redone, including all new doors and new kitchen and bath
> ceramic tile floors (which raised them up), so adding the new hardwood fl=
oor
> on top of the old one won't be a problem in terms of the added height to =
the
> floor. =A0The plan is to put down red rosin paper and then nail down the =
new
> unfinished hardwood. =A0The new hardwood will be going down so it will be=
at a
> 90 degree angle to (meaning "across") the old hardwood flooring. =A0I hav=
e a
> handyman-type person who will be doing the actual work, and he said he ha=
s
> done hardwood flooring before. =A0But, I am the one who will be deciding =
how
> it will be done. =A0He'll be renting the special nailing gun, etc.
> I have to decide how it will be finished. =A0Due to the apartment renovat=
ion,
> the old hardwood floor had a number of sections that needed to be filled =
in.
> I had the guy first install the same type of #2 red oak 3/4-inch unfinish=
ed
> hardwood to do the fill-ins, thinking that I would probably then just
> refinish the old floor. =A0We even rented a sander and started sanding th=
e old
> and some of the newly-patched flooring. =A0But, I later decided not to
> continue with that and I am going to install the new floor on top of the =
old
> one instead. =A0Nevertheless, I now have some small sections of nailed do=
wn #2
> red oak 3/4-inch unfinished hardwood on which I can test out different
> finishes since it will be covered up by the new floor.
> I've tested a couple of colors of polyurethane with stain in it, and I do=
n't
> like how it comes out -- they are all too dark. =A0Plus, I am thinking th=
at if
> I can just use clear polyurethane without any stain coloring in it, if th=
e
> floor later gets scratched and damaged, it would be easier to just sand t=
he
> scratches and re-coat without having to match any stain color later on.
> Here's the part that seems strange to me. =A0When I test the clear
> polyurethane on the unfinished hardwood patched areas that were just put
> down, and that not sanded, it looks pretty good. =A0The wood grain shows =
up
> well and the color is pretty much what I want. =A0But, when I put the cle=
ar
> poly on the new unfinished hardwood patched areas that were already sande=
d,
> it comes out looking bad (to me) -- it's much darker and the wood grain
> doesn't show up well. =A0I have a feeling that the sanding makes the hard=
wood
> just absorb the poly more evenly, and not more in one part of the grain a=
nd
> less in other parts, so it doesn't look very good.
> My dilemma is that once the new floor goes down, I assume that I need to
> sand it first to make it even before applying the clear poly. =A0But, I t=
hink
> that will make the coloration look worse than it would if I just applied =
the
> clear poly first without sanding it.
> Also, I've been reading some stuff online that says that the new hardwood
> should be sealed on all sides. =A0I've never heard of that before and nev=
er
> saw anyone do it. =A0Is that something that people actually do? -- seal t=
he
> new unfinished hardwood on all sides before putting it down? =A0I doubt i=
t,
> but I have to ask.
> Overall, any tips, suggestions, etc. anyone has before I start the
> installation would be appreciated.
> Thanks.

One reason to sand a newly installed HW floor is to even out the
slight differences in thickness between the boards. There's no way to
get them just right, or if there was, it would take entirely too
long. You may be surprised at how quickly and brutishly the boards
are installed. You really need to sand them after installation.

Since you are doing the whole floor at once, it won't really matter
what it looks like now. Wait until after the whole floor is down, and
sanded, then look at stains or polys. If you don't like a stain or
poly, it's easy to strip it off and start again. This can even be
done with a belt sander, you don't need to keep the big drum sander
for another day.

Good luck,


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